Winter 2025 Hiring Among Oregon’s Private Employers Remains Near Lowest Level Since 2020

April 24, 2025

Each quarter, the Oregon Employment Department surveys private employers from all industries and areas of the state to ask about the job vacancies they are actively trying to fill. Oregon businesses reported 51,300 vacancies in winter 2025. Vacancies increased 3% from the fall and decreased 15% from winter 2024. After reaching elevated levels of close to 100,000 job vacancies in spring 2021 through summer 2022 in the rapid hiring following pandemic re-openings, winter 2025 had the second-lowest level of job vacancies in Oregon since summer 2020.

As of January 2025, there were 7.0 million private-sector job openings in the United States, as measured by the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, and 7.5 million people were unemployed, resulting in a U.S. ratio of about 1.0 unemployed people per job opening. This is the 16th straight quarter at or below a ratio of 1.0. The number of private-sector job openings in the U.S. peaked at 11.5 million in April 2022. Since spring of 2021, openings have met or exceeded the previous high of 7.0 million seen in April 2019.

There were 117,400 unemployed Oregonians in January 2025 and 51,300 job vacancies, leaving roughly 2.3 unemployed persons for every job opening. As job vacancies in Oregon have fallen since the record high peaks and unemployment has continued at a low level since late 2021, Oregon’s unemployed-to-job vacancy ratio has been slowly increasing.

Most Oregon openings in winter 2025 were for full-time, permanent positions. Education beyond high school was required for 34% of winter vacancies. Prior work experience was required for 68% of vacancies, up from 63% in winter 2024. Employers reported a majority of their vacancies as difficult to fill, accounting for 54% of vacancies in winter 2025.

The average starting wage among this group of vacancies was $25.38 per hour, an inflation-adjusted increase of 6% from winter 2024, and a 5% decrease from fall 2024. The number of vacancies offering a starting wage below $20 per hour decreased 24% over the year. The number of vacancies offering between $20 and $30 per hour increased 2%, and vacancies paying above $30 per hour decreased 6%.

Hiring demand existed throughout different industries and occupations, though it was concentrated in the private health care and social assistance industry. Nine out of 14 major sectors were hiring for more than 2,000 positions at any given time in winter 2025. Health care and social assistance represented nearly a third of all winter vacancies, with 15,500 vacancies. The retail trade industry followed with 5,900 vacancies.

Employers reported vacancies in nearly 200 different occupations. The occupation groups with the most vacancies in winter 2025 were health care support (6,900), food preparation and serving related (5,300), and transportation and material moving (5,000) occupations. Detailed occupations reported most frequently included personal care aides, nursing assistants, and retail salespersons.

Winter vacancies were distributed across the state, with the Portland tri-county area accounting for about 40%. Vacancies decreased over the year in every region of the state, except in Southwestern Oregon.

More details about Oregon Job Vacancies are available on QualityInfo.org, on the publications page under Job Vacancy Survey.